A Rare Frog That Hasn’t Been Seen In 130 Years Was Rediscovered In Chile
A rare frog that has not been seen in 130 years was recently rediscovered in Chile. The frog species, Alsodes vittatus, was first described in 1902 and has evaded detection since then, even though several search efforts were made.
A team of researchers came across two populations of the frog at the southeastern end of the ancient Hacienda San Ignacio de Pemehue in the La Araucanía Region. The rediscovery is important for the conservation of biodiversity in South America.
In 1902, Alsodes vittatus was scientifically described by Rodulfo Amando Philippi, a German naturalist living in Chile.
A French entomologist named Philibert Germain discovered the species in 1893 at what was once the Hacienda San Ignacio de Pemehue in La Araucanía Region. He brought three specimens to Philippi to study.
After that, no one saw the species again for more than a century. Between 1995 and 2002, some researchers tried to look for it in the northwestern end of the Pemehue area but were unsuccessful.
In 2015 and 2016, new expeditions were conducted, resulting in the discovery of two populations of the frog in the same area.
However, the individuals that the research team observed did not have a white or yellow stripe on their backs. The missing feature indicated that they were likely from a different species.
“The main challenge in locating it was the lack of precision in the description of its type locality,” said the researchers.
“In Germain’s time, the Hacienda San Ignacio de Pemehue was an estate of enormous size, and the naturalist did not specify the exact place where he collected the specimens.”
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The team had to reconstruct the route that Germain followed by studying his publications and other historical records to locate the species. In 2023 and 2024, they followed the route and entered the region through the southeastern end.
That was where they found two populations of A. vittatus in the Lolco and Portales river basins in the La Araucanía region. After more than a century without being recorded, the existence of this species was finally confirmed.
The find is important for the conservation of biodiversity on the continent because most of the other species in the genus Alsodes are at risk of extinction, or there is not enough information about them to determine their status. Being able to identify where and how they live is the first step toward protecting them.
“The rediscovery of A. vittatus allowed us to obtain, more than a century after its description, the first biological and ecological data on the species. Field observations also indicate that this amphibian faces several significant threats and that it could be considered endangered,” said the researchers.
“In a broader context, this rediscovery demonstrates the limited biological, evolutionary, and biogeographic knowledge of the amphibians that inhabit the southern cone of South America, emphasizing the urgency of their study and conservation.”
The study was published in ZooKeys.
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